Spotlight on a Mentor. President s Report Mary McNeil, RN, BSN, CWOCN

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1 Fall 2007 President s Report Mary McNeil, RN, BSN, CWOCN Spotlight on a Mentor Happy Fall, everyone! What a glorious time of year crisp air, the bluest of skies, beautiful shades of turning leaves, piles of leaves on the roadside, pumpkins, mums, and of course team sports! The enthusiasm and team spirit that is shared in bleachers across this country is a tradition that many of us enjoy. This issue is devoted to the recap of our fall conference. WOC N on the River was one of our finest conferences with outstanding speakers and topics. There were 262 attendees, 32.5 continuing education hours offered, 50 Vendors and numerous opportunities for good times with friends. Thank you, South Carolina planning committee for a great conference! One of the highlights of the weekend was the announcement of a very generous gift that was offered by Alvin Word, one of our members from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Alvin has offered to donate up to $10, in a challenge to both the SER membership and the board. The board has voted for the region to match Alvin s $10,000 from SER funds. In addition, members attending the conference pledged or gave over $ A heartwarming response to this generous challenge. We still have a long way to go! We have set Dec 15 th as the target date for achieving this goal and your participation is vital. If every member who has not yet participated becomes involved we will easily match Alvin s challenge. I encourage each of you to consider giving an amount equal to one hour s salary. Within this newsletter is a form for your contribution. These funds will be used for tuition scholarships for attendance at a WOCN affiliated program. What a great way to promote and grow our profession! Get involved; show your passion for our profession, your vision for our future and your SER team spirit. May each of you enjoy a holiday season blessed with the presence of family and friends! Laura Shafer from Gwinnett Medical Center is our Mentor of the Quarter. Laura is a truly inspiring and trusted leader at Gwinnett. She started the WOCN Program at Gwinnett in 1991 and has seen it grow from her being a parttime ET to 11 FTE s (including a full-time MD, a full time PT, as well as WOCNs and 2 office staff). She established a proposal and started the Wound Treatment Center in 1998 which has grown to a current patient base of about 450 outpatients/month. She also oversees the inpatient WOCN activities (approx 350 patients/month). Laura works with a Skin Care Committee composed of staff nurses from every floor involved with quarterly pressure ulcer prevalence and product decisions. Laura has been actively involved with the SERWOCN as Conference Chair in 1994, Board of Directors and She is currently the Newsletter Editor for the SER. Laura has been a Preceptor at the Emory WOCN Program since 1990 and helps to coordinate the Metro Atlanta WOCN Consortium. To those of us who are her peers we know that her first love is the Ostomy / CCFA Support Group that she started in They still meet on a monthly basis with Laura as the facilitator. The support group averages about 22 attendees/ month. Laura is creative with writing proposals and justifying decisions and to a certain extent a risk-taker who welcomes additional responsibilities. All of us who have worked with her feel that she is an effective leader who creates the spirit of innovation and collaboration in the WOCN world. She is a true asset to our profession.

2 PAGE 2 SER WOCN NEWS President Mary McNeil Southeast Region Board of Directors 2007 mary.mcneil@molnlycke.com Vice President Ruth Gordon regordon@inbox.com Secretary Elizabeth Jones elizabeths.jones@palmettohealth.org Treasurer Charlene Demers Past President Susan Steele susan.steele@gcsu.edu Director Conference Liaison Cyncere Neal cyncere.neal@pcmh.com Director Special Projects Elaine Rush Elainewr@bellsouth.net Director Awards Regina Holmes rholmes@lorishealthcaresystem.com CEU Opportunities Director of Special Projects The educational opportunities presented at the 2007 SER Conference were excellent and provided us with a variety of programs in our three areas of practice. The 2008 Conference in Huntsville Alabama planned for September th is planning a comprehensive program with opportunities to expand our knowledge base and enhance our practice. I hope you will plan to be there and share in the networking and educational experience. The following opportunities for on- line CEU in our specialty are as follows: Advances in Skin and Wound Care, October 2007, Volume 20, Number 10, "Compartment Syndrome: Wound Care Considerations" page 559. Journal of WOCN, September/October 2007 Volume 34, Number 5 "Surgical Wound Infection in the Intensive Care Unit " page 499. The WOCN Global Learning Center has developed a series of leering modules called e-;learning sessions. These are available to WOCN members for free for a limited time. You may view the topics and CEU hours by login in to and click on the Global Learning Center under the education heading. This is an excellent time to expand your knowledge on the topics available and obtain CEU at the same time. Check it out! Hope you all have now obtained your CD programs on Leg Ulcer Disease and Ostomy Care that have been made available at regional and national conferences. The plan is to have a new one out in Huntsville at the SER Conference. If you have any questions about the current CD program, please contact cami@nc.rr.com for information on ordering or the SER website at As you plan for the upcoming holidays, may they be filled with fun, and some time to relax and enjoy life. Communications Director Laura Shafer

3 SER WOCN NEWS PAGE 3 SER 2007 Election Results Elections Committee Chair Terry Barton, BSN, RN, CWOCN Congratulations! Our winners are: Treasurer: Charlene Demers Secretary: Elizabeth Jones Director #1 Special Programs: Elaine Rush Director #3 Conference Planning: Dorothy Ann Lawson Nominations Committee: AL: Jan-Hale Stevens FL: Terry Barton GA: Lorna Buntachai NC: Pam Whitley SC: Tena Jordan TN: Denise Goodwin And thank you to all who ran for an office and for all who voted. is not too early to think about running for next year s available positions! President Vice President Director #2 Awards Greetings from the Great State of Alabama Jessie Dickerson, RN, MSN, CWON, CFCN The Alabama WOCNs are busy as usual with preparations for the 2008 SER WOCN Conference to be held in Huntsville, Alabama September 11-13, No doubt, many of you who attended the wonderful 2007 SER WOCN Conference held in Greenville, South Carolina, have received your Boarding Pass to the 2008 SER WOCN Conference from the Chairperson, Deborah Thedford and her Astronauts from Alabama. We have already received confirmation from such dynamic speakers as: Dorothy Doughty, Courtney Lyder, Karen Lou Kennedy and Dot Weir to name a few. Make sure to mark your calendars for this stellar event. You can expect to receive more exciting news in the coming months via the SER Newsletter or you may keep track of our progress by surfing our website Congratulations to the following WOC Nurses for their recent accomplishments: Jeannine McKnight CWOCN recertification Hattie Stokes CWOCN recertification Sherri Tidwell CWOCN recertification Laura King CWON recertification Jessie Dickerson CWON-AP certification Jessie Dickerson, RN, MSN, CWON-AP, CFCN was also selected to serve on the WOCNCB Marketing Committee. In addition, Jessie just returned from a trip of a lifetime to China as a Delegate with the AONE Nursing Leadership Delegation with the Peoples to Peoples Ambassador Program. The delegation visited three major cities within China and shared many common bonds with other nurse leaders in China that eagerly shared their concerns regarding the healthcare delivery systems and its impact on nursing. We salute and congratulate Hattie Stokes, Karen Edwards and Catrice Potts (all UAB CWOCNs) for having their poster on Topical Treatments accepted at the Clinical Symposium for Advances in Skin and Wound Care, held in Nashville, Tenn., October We solicit your prayers and well wishes for a speedy recovery to two of our colleagues, Jackie Doubleman and Gayle Moore who are recovering from surgeries. We also extend our deepest sympathy to Joyce Carroll at BMC Princeton in the recent loss of her mother. Lastly, I would like to once again appeal to ALL OF THE ALABAMA WOCN OR WOUND CARE NURSES to make sure you are on our mailing list and to send me updated addresses and/or telephone numbers so we can keep you posted as we plan our annual Alabama State meeting and SER Conference for We need everyone on Board. Also include any news you may have for the next newsletter. Jessie Dickerson Jessie.Dickerson@va.gov Ext. 6158

4 PAGE 4 SER WOCN NEWS Award Update Director #2 Regina Holmes, RN, CWOCN We had a wonderful time at this year s conference in Greenville, South Carolina. I am proud to be a member of the SER WOCN. I came back rejuvenated and overflowing with new knowledge. I continually learn from my peers! These are your SER s finest! I encourage all of you to become involved in the nomination process for these awards. You all know someone deserving of one of these awards. You never know you could be a recipient next year! SER WOCN FALL CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS: Katrina Bair June Smith Avrille Davis Renee Green Joanna J. Burgess Laura D. Leininger Lisa Thompson Yolanda Colman Peggy Peters Katharine Gibb 2007 WOC of the Year Award Recipient Teresa Kelechi, PhD, AP RN-BC, CWCN Associate Professor MUSC, College of Nursing 2007 Scholarship Honoree Phyllis Bonham PhD, RN, MSN, CWOCN Phyllis received this award by her SC WOC Peers Rookie Of The Year: Amy C. Surrett RN, BSN, CWOCN Amy you have excelled in WOC practice and set the gold standard for all newcomers to WOC Nursing Practice UOAA Youth Rally: The SER gave $ to youth campers this year. See the thank you note from Marie Oren-Sosebee, RN, BSN, CWOCN on page 5 of this newsletter. Theresa Kelechi is congratulated by one of her colleagues after receiving the WOC Nurse of the year award. Regina Holmes presents Amy Surrett with the Rookie of the Year Award Carolyn Cuttino (right) presents the Scholarship Honoree Award to Phyllis Bonham Mary McNeil, President (right) thanks South Carolina for an outstanding conference and encourages everyone to attend the 2008 conference in Huntsville, Alabama Café and Then Some preformed for the Awards Dinner bringing some humor to the conference!

5 SER WOCN NEWS PAGE 5 Dear Friends, This summer, I had yet another fabulous and rewarding opportunity to serve as a 3-year WOC Nurse Counselor for the 2007 YRC Youth Rally Camp. Specifically for those who have or may need a bowel and/or a bladder diversion, the YRC Youth Rally Camp provides a non-threatening environment where adolescents ages 11 to 17 receive education and psycho-social support that encourages independent living. At this camp, they learn that they are not alone. This year s camp was held at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Children s Healthcare of Atlanta was well represented as I recruited nine of my current and former ostomy patients to attend as campers and a nurse from the Egleston campus CICU to attend as a counselor. Deemed the Georgia Peanuts, my little group of 11 combined with another Georgia camper and another Georgia counselor made up a whopping 13 representatives of the great state of Georgia! Go Peanuts! To help offset costs associated with traveling and attending the YRC Youth Rally, my nine Georgia Peanuts were sponsored by generous donations from Byram, Hollister, SER WOCN, and unknown Youth Rally donations. Georgia Peanut logo t-shirts were designed and donated by a local t-shirt company. Children s supported my involvement through the Camp Assistance program that compensates employees for volunteering at camps that are aligned with our mission. This year, along with another WOC Nurse, I serve again as one of the Medical Education Session Coordinators, facilitating design of education for campers on common medical GI/GU conditions, hygiene, self-care practices, growth and development, and self-esteem using fun and innovative techniques. Our session was based on the popular television program, America s Next Top Model, and included modeling and judging of ostomy and continence products and accessories, commercial trivia, and hygiene and self-care skits. Campers, WOC Nurses, and counselors alike participated in groups as the group leaders, model contestants, judges, actors, and actresses. At Children s, I work in an acute care setting where I routinely provide pre-op and post-op counseling and education for children and teens undergoing ostomy procedures. When I take care of them, they are sick. I don t get to see them in a normal environment living like healthy kids. This involvement in a communitybased support program is something that I can offer to my own new-diagnosis, existing, and prior ostomy patients as it gives them the support they need. This knowledge and experience helps me counsel new post-op ostomy patients and explain that they are not alone and yes, they CAN live a normal life. Youth Rally is equally rewarding for my patients and their parents. The following is a thank-you letter from one of my 13-year-old Georgia Peanuts : Thank you for helping me participate in the trip. It was a nice experience for me. I had fun. I met people with similar problems. I also found new stuff to use on my ostomy, and also found out that I can play around with it. This camp experience continually keeps me passionate about my role with pediatric ostomy patients, and it helps me relate to the kids. I am a better WOC Nurse because of my Youth Rally experiences. I strongly encourage anyone taking care of teens with gastrointestinal or genitourinary medical conditions or those themselves who have GI/GU conditions to volunteer for the Youth Rally as counselors or WOC Nurses. For more information about the camp, please visit Until next year Warmly, Marie Oren-Sosebee, RN, BSN, CWOCN Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Wound, Ostomy & Continence Nursing Coordinator

6 PAGE 6 SER WOCN NEWS Hello from Sunny Florida Kathryn Dere, RN, CWOCN It s hard to believe that November is here. Where did the year go? The dynamic group of WOCNs in Florida has been busy, as usual. The Florida Association of Enterostomal Therapists (FAET) is busy planning their Annual Conference. The 2008 conference, February 29 and March 1 in Orlando, will be their 30 th anniversary as an Association. In keeping with the theme Pearls of Wisdom, the committee is looking for the mentors, past Presidents, and past Conference Chairpersons for narratives and anecdotals of the rising of FAET. Shirl Rogers is collating all pictures, narratives, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia to be included in a scrapbook. Any one who would like to help or has items that she could use please contact Shirl at or shirl.rogers@med.va.gov. The conference planning committee is finalizing the agenda. Some of the topics include Atypical Wounds, Pediatric Ostomy Care, Healing Infected Wounds, Dealing with Deep Tissue Injury, and Incontinence Issues. It will start Friday evening with a Mystery Speaker for the dinner. Come and network with your old friends from the past and present and share your Pearls of Wisdom. For more information, contact Terry Barton at or terry.barton@flhosp.org. From the Tampa Bay group, Vicky Anthony spent 5 months cruising the east coast and exploring the Chesapeake Bay. What a nice way to spend those retirement days. Jane Nichols has been named to a national VA task force on pressure ulcers which will work with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 5 Million Lives Campaign. Nancy Scott was 1 of 5 Florida State finalists in Nursing Spectrum s Excellence in Clinical Care Amy Evans has been appointed to the Hillsborough County American Cancer Society Board of Directors Nancy Scott recently retired from the USAF at the end of October. Nancy had 30 yrs of service as a military officer in USAF Nurse Corps, retiring as a Colonel. Congratulations to everyone for such accomplishments!! Cheryl Lynch attended SER conference and presented a poster about Skin Tear Treatment. Charlene Demers, Terry Barton, and Karen Guritz also attended the SER conference. All three said it was a Fantastic, Informative gathering. Well that is all the information from the Sunshine state. Please let me know if you have anything to share. We like both professional and fun, personal news. Send me an , don t be shy. Boast about your accomplishments! Kathryn Dere Kathryn.dere@orhs.org News from South Carolina Cindy Norris, RN, CWOCN A Note from Dot Lawson: Well I think we all can truly exhale since the conference is over. The South Carolina WOCNs can truly be proud of a job well done. I would like to thank all of you for giving me the pleasure and honor to work with the greatest peers in the world. We have received the evaluations from the conference and it was quite favorable. The participants were pleased with the educational program, how the speakers were kept within their time limit, and they even enjoyed the meals! Next conference, most likely we will have to focus on getting a larger facility for it seems as if we have outgrown ourselves. That s a good thing! Again, thanks for all the hard work you put in before and during conference. Other news from SC: Cindy Norris passed her WOCN recertification via PGP. SC would like to thank every one who participated in the silent auction at conference. We had excellent donations to auction! Team work was great! Those who were not able to attend missed an excellent time for networking and great educational presentations that we needed to hear. Thanks to Cathy Womack, all of our committee members and Dot Lawson for working so hard to make the conference a success! Cissy Deas from McLeod Regional sends her regrets for not attending. Her mother had emergency surgery and is doing well. Thought for the day: It is better to do things right the first time than to explain why you didn t. An early Happy Thanksgiving from South Carolina! Cindy Norris cindynorriswocn@cs.com

7 SER WOCN NEWS PAGE 7 For the NC Group, It s All About Research! Judy Plemmons, RN, CWOCN The NC group is busy collecting data for their research study on heel ulcers. Members are collecting the data from various sites during the month of October. We ll keep you posted on our progress as we delve into this group project! A subcommittee was formed to record the steps and progress of the research. This subcommittee (Lorelei Yerse, RN, CWOCN, Shawn Hogan, RN, CWCN COCN, Judy Plemmons, RN, CWOCN, Colleen Spiller, RN, CWOCN) presented a poster at SER convention in Greenville, SC, in October. Lori and Colleen attended the convention to present the poster. Other members in attendance included Brian Lehr and Leanne Richbourg. Leanne Richbourg and Jane Fellows are involved in their own research project. Leanne reports: Part One of the wear-time study is complete and we are currently writing up our findings for publication. Part One collected demographic data and wear-time in days. Part Two deals with all the factors that affect wear-time. We are still enrolling both ostomates and ostomy nurses for that study. Anybody wanting to participate can me at lrichbourg@yahoo.com. Greetings from Tennessee! Mona Hector, BSN, RN, CWOCN Jane Fellows, Leanne Richbourg and Brian Lehr recently traveled to Kansas City to serve in their respective roles with the WOCNCB. Brian Lehr served as a Delegate during the 100th NCNA annual convention. He is the treasurer for the Western Region of North Carolina Nurses Association, the state chapter of the American Nurses Association. Brian also attended SER convention in Greenville. On a personal note, congratulations to Karin Bello! "Samuel Jacob" was born on August 7th. Karin works for Convatec and is one of the nurses at the number. Judy Plemmons JDPlemmo@aol.com Congratulations to Marta Bullard on her new position as clinical manager of Memorial Hope Wound Center. Marta has been with Memorial hospital for 2 years and is enjoying the challenge of using her knowledge and skills to develop the new wound center. Alvin Word tells me he is on the mend from cervical neck fusion surgery but greatly missed not attending the SER Conference in Greenville, SC. He was not forgotten however, as he sent out a challenge and donation to raise scholarship money to encourage a "new crop" of WOC nurses. He sincerely feels we should pay forward to our future as many of us are finding the word senior applies to us. Amy Bandelier received third place at the regional conference on her poster "Measuring the Effectiveness of an Advanced Pressure Redistribution Support System in Various Acute Care Facilities". Good job! The Memphis Area WOCN group recently held elections and are greatly pleased to have Kathleen Chambers as our new president. We continue to have informative programs and increasing demand for WOC nurses. I suspect with the new CMS declaration regarding nosocomial pressure ulcers our multiple skills in prevention and treatment will be greatly appreciated. The Middle Tennessee WOCN group continues to meet on the 3 rd Thursday of the month from 4:00-6:00 pm in Nashville. We have a sharing session and an educational session at each meeting. Anyone interested in attending contact Pat Smith at Patricia.Smith@ HCAHelathcare.com or for more information. Suzy Scott received 2nd place in poster division at the National Association of Healthcare Quality Meeting in Boston, MA for her poster titled "The Role of Surgical QI Nurse in OR Performance Measures Success". Suzy has done extensive work and research in OR pressure ulcers for several years. Everyone please note that my e- mail address has changed. Mona Hector monahector@bellsouth.net (901)

8 SER WOCN P O Box Raleigh, NC Spanish Translation Ostomy Teaching Booklets Revised and Reprinted in 2002 The Birmingham Area ET (WOC) Nurses were awarded an educational grant from Carrington Laboratories, Inc. in honor of Dr. Sheri Smith, from Alabama. The grant was written to translate, print and disseminate the Ostomy teaching booklets into Spanish. Revenue from these booklets will be used to print more booklets, help sponsor children to attend the Youth Rally and send sets to all WOC Educations Programs. The following booklets are available for $3.50 each in Spanish or English Living with your Colostomy Living with your Ileostomy Living with your Urostomy Order Form Fill in the quality for the number of booklets you want. Send a check or money order payable to The Birmingham Area ET Nurses Association, include postage and handling at the following rates: Number of booklets: 1 10 $ $ $ $ $ $30.00 Please indicate which booklet(s) you want (Spanish or English) and send your name, address, phone number & address to: Birmingham Area ET Nurses Association, P O Box 55358, Birmingham, AL 35255, Please call for additional information Please allow 4 6 weeks for delivery.